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Traditional powers throng into semis at Sudirman Cup
No surprise came out as four traditional powers booked their berths in the semifinals at the Sudirman Cup Wednesday, all with two wins out of two ties. In Group 1A, reigning titleholders South Korea whitewashed England 5-0 and European powerhouse Denmark crushed Thailand 4-1 to move into the semifinals first. Hosts China and Indonesia filled in the remaining two spots later in the afternoon session, crushing Chinese Hong Kong and Sweden respectively. China was obviously testing new combination of their big guns. The four-time Cup winners fielded a totally different lineup from the previous day but still wrapped up all the five points. Only Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng continued to play in men's doubles and they gave China the winning point, beating Liu Kwok Wa/Albertus Njoto of Chinese Hong Kong 15-5, 15-1. Bao Chunlai replaced current world No. 1 Lin Dan to start men's singles for the hosts. He overcame the second game's defeat to win 15-5, 13-15, 15-5 over Agus Hariyanto. "We lost the only game on Bao, but that's because his opponent is strong," said Chinese head coach Li Yongbo, "Agus was playing in the Indonesian national team." Li was satisfied with the team performance but stressed Wednesday's showdown against Indonesia to top the group. "We will present our strongest lineup to meet Indonesia tomorrow evening," he said. Indonesia lost one point on women's singles but won the other four matches with their top mixed pair Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir, Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat, current world No. 2 men's duo Luluk Hadiyanto/Alvent Yulianto and women's couple Jo Novita/Lita Nurlita. South Korea started their second day battle with Lee Hyun Il taking on Nicolas Kidd in the men's singles. The world number 27 player clinched the first point for the defending champion 15-3, 15-4 before Lee Yoon Hee overcame Elizabeth Cann 11-3, 9-11, 11-7. South Korea fielded a men's doubles with Yim Bang Eun replacing Olympic doubles champion Kim Dong Moon to be paired up with Ha Tae Kwon. The new partners pushed aside Anthony Clark and Robert Blair 15-17, 15-13, 15-5. "Yim and I began to be paired up after the Athens Olympic Games and we have yet to cooperate very well,"said Ha. "I think I will play the doubles with my old partner Kim again in this tournament but I am not certain whether we can still be partners after it." Lee Kyung Won/Lee Hyo Jung beat Ella Tripp/Joanne Wright 15-2, 15-10 in the women's doubles before Lee Jae Jin/Ra Kyung Min defeated Nathan Robertson/Gail Emms 15-14, 9-15, 15-10. South Korea will next clash with Denmark for the top place in Group 1A.
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